Tag Archives: Florence

As with my previous post on the doors of Italy, I was also enthralled with the ceilings. We visited many churches and museums over the three weeks, and they all continued the beautiful Renaissance artwork into the ceiling. My favourite was in the Uffizi on the second floor in the second hallway. Each ceiling represented a topic of which the de Medici family felt that they were important in and demonstrated their accomplishments (for example, literature, sea-going, art). In each fresco would be the relevant family members’ portrait, different flora, fauna and images related to the topics. Enjoy 🙂

We did a lot of walking while in Italy and I was captivated by the doors. Each one was unique, from the door knocker to the style. Below is a gallery of the different doors from Rome, Cinque Terre, Pisa and Tuscany, both exterior and interior. Be forewarned! This is 3 weeks worth of door pictures. Enjoy 🙂

I love gelato. I also love ice cream but the intensity of the flavours just seem to come out better in gelato. I am fortunate to live near 3 different gelateria here in Toronto (Hollywood Gelato -Fav!, Il Gelatiere and the Mad Italian). So it goes without saying that I am going to eat gelato any chance I get!

WineGuyTo at our first gelato spot.

Our first day in Italy, we went into the village and you can see from the picture above what happened 🙂 I found ordering gelato was a great way to practice my beginner Italian, and this place was kind enough to help with pronunciation. The gelato above was creamy and really flavourful. I enjoyed trying flavours I wasn’t used to, like stracciatella. I really fell in love with black cherry with ribbons of a creamy vanilla throughout, making it my default flavour for the rest of the trip. Our time in Italy was so hot, that gelato became almost a must daily just to provide some cool refreshment.

In San Gimignano there is theGelateria di Piazza, the World Champion Gelateria five years running (2005-2009). We ate here the most and it really lived up to that award. I had limoncello, pear and a trademarked (!) Champelmo (pink grapefruit with sparkling wine). There were really too many flavours to choose from, so of course we made sure to come back often to keep trying different ones.

Gelataria di Piazza-World Champs!

First night indulgences.

We found that the further from Florence, the better the prices. We did end up getting some gelato at the end of our day in Florence, at the end of the Ponte Vecchio, but it was more money for much less than in Chianti or San Gimmy.

I know there is a debate in Toronto where the best gelato is, but having eaten almost every day for 10 days, hands down its Hollywood Gelato.